How does it feel?

Since I posted my short update yesterday that I am indeed running again, I wanted to follow up and fill you in on some of the details. I started the Couch to 5K program two weeks ago. If you are not familiar with it, it’s essentially a program of running and walking that anyone can use to train for a 5K. It uses alternating run/walk intervals to build up your running base. So this week I am running a minute and 30 seconds with a 2 minute walk break. The most asked question when I tell people I am running again is, “how does it feel?” And the answer every time is, “it feels weird.” It’s really the only way to describe it–there’s not much pain (and just to clarify, no bone pain) but running feels kind of foreign to me and I feel super awkward. I’m actually quite used to this weird feeling now, being almost six months into my recovery. Everything along the way has felt weird at first, from my first step on crutches bearing weight all they way to running. I remember a couple of weeks ago at PT when walking up and down stairs finally stopped being weird…yes, I said just a couple of weeks ago. It has taken that long to feel normal again, but it feels normal again which gives me hope that running, too, will feel normal again.

In other news, I snuck in a ride today and had tons of fun. Tomorrow I have PT and will run. Friday I’m off to Galveston to swim and bike in a 70.3 relay–more to come on this and why I can’t wait!!